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CORVALLIS, Ore. — The Portland State men's tennis team swept through the first day of the Corvallis Indoor Tennis Championships Friday, as the Vikings won six of their seven contested matches at the Timberhill Tennis Club.
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Juniors
Wil Cochrane and
Matt Pronesti, the fourth and sixth seeds in the open singles draw, respectively, both won their matches Friday after pulling out a pair of three-set wins. Cochrane flipped a switch in his match against Pacific University's Reuben Mulhern, as he came back after a close 6-4 loss in the first set to beat Mulhern 6-1 and 6-2 in the second and third sets, respectively.
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Pronesti, meanwhile, had to hold off a rally from George Fox's Vincent Viloria in their match against each other, as Pronesti took the first set, 6-1, only to see Viloria level the match again with a 6-4 win in the second set. The two stayed level deep into the third set, too, before Pronesti broke late to claim the decisive set, 7-5.
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Pronesti will next face Pacific University's Wes Upton in the second round at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, while Cochrane will face George Fox's Tristen Lerma at 10 a.m.
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Junior
Brent Wheeler, the fifth seed in the tournament, did not have as much trouble in his first-round match, as he cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 win over George Fox's Nicholas Ekern.
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Wheeler will now face Hope International's Andrew You, who walked into the second round, at 10 a.m. Saturday.
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Sophomore
Ethan Lopez and senior
Stuart Tierney also advanced to Saturday's second round, but did so via walkovers. Both players will open play in the second round at 9 a.m. Saturday, with Tierney facing Leo Young, a tennis pro at the Ashland Tennis & Fitness Club, while Lopez will face eighth-seeded Nicholas Grafton of George Fox.
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Junior
Nate Chart did not have as much luck in his first-round match Friday, as he fell 6-1, 6-3 to George Fox's Spencer Watanabe. Chart bounced back in his first-round match of the back draw, however, as he beat George Fox's Chace Stalcup in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.
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The Vikings continued their dominance in doubles, where both Viking teams in action Friday claimed straight-set wins.
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Lopez and Wheeler, the fourth-seeded doubles team in the draw, faced a pair of prep players in Timothy Roome-Traut and Jonah Wafula, and cruised into the second round with a 6-2, 6-0 win.
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Tierney and junior
Ian Risenhoover, meanwhile, found themselves in a tighter match against You and Watanabe from Hope International and George Fox, but still prevailed in straight sets, taking a tight first set, 6-4, before pulling out the second set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (4).
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Lopez and Wheeler will now face Colby Jager, a University of Portland alum, and Sam Larson, a prep player from Corvallis, Ore., in the second round. Risenhoover and Tierney, meanwhile, will face the third-seeded team in the tournament in Stalcup and Chris Lilley, both of George Fox.
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Cochrane and Pronesti will also compete in the doubles draw, but earned a bye into the second round as the second-seeded doubles team at the tournament. They will face Young and John Dix, both senior players from Ashland, Ore., in the second round.
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All second round doubles matches will start at 5 p.m. Saturday.
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